Clashes Resume Between Arakan Army and Tatmadaw

‘They launch a military offensive on one side while they are holding a meeting on the other,’
said an AA spokesperson.

By NETWORK MEDIA GROUP (NMG)

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Fighting has flared up again between the Arakan Army (AA) and the Burma Army in Chin State’s Paletwa Township, an AA spokesperson said.

“Clashes took place on October 14 and 15, 5.5 kilometers north of Ohn Thee Wa village, located near the upper part of the Kaladan River in Paletwa Township,” the AA’s information department in-charge Khaing Thukha told NMG. “Battles took place in two to three places—they were very intense.”

According to Khaing Thukha, the AA has not yet identified which government battalions they faced in the recent armed conflict.

According to the AA, government forces have sent more troops near the Bangladeshi border in Chin State.

“They have sent reinforcement troops into the conflict zone. Therefore, clashes are likely to continue in the area,” Khaing Thukha said of Paletwa Township.

The Burma Army’s True News Information Team has not yet released any information about the clashes with the AA.

An exact number of casualties on each side was not available at the time of reporting.

While armed conflict broke out in Paletwa, representatives of the government, military, parliaments, and ethnic armed group signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) were participating in a summit in Naypyidaw.

“They launch a military offensive on one side while they are holding a meeting on the other. They used to do this, too—they would hold a meeting with some organizations and at the same time, attack other organizations,” Khaing Thukha said of the Tatmadaw.

The last clashes between the two groups in Paletwa took place on September 21.

The Arakan Army is not signatory to Burma’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement, and is a member of the Northern Alliance of ethnic armed groups, and belongs to the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee.